California eradicated these 20-pound rodents decades ago; DNA suggests someone deliberately brought them back
- Nutria (representative image)California once believed it had beaten nutria.
- The invasive semi-aquatic rodents had been wiped out in the state by the late 1970s, but decades later they reappeared in the Central Valley and a new genetic study suggests their return was not an accident of nature, but the result of human reintroduction.
- The finding matters because nutria are not just another nuisance species.
Unverified
- Nutria (representative image)California once believed it had beaten nutria.
- The invasive semi-aquatic rodents had been wiped out in the state by the late 1970s, but decades later they reappeared in the Central Valley and a new genetic study suggests their return was not an accident of nature, but the result of human reintroduction.
- The finding matters because nutria are not just another nuisance species.
Sources: Times of India